In the book, The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer L. Holm, it follows a girl named Ellie. She is young and her parents are divorced. She has a very weird grandpa and he finds out the key to rebirth and the fountain of youth. He got kicked out of his lab and the jellyfish that made the fountain of youth is still there. They have to go and get it before it is too late.

The problem in the story is that her grandfather is now a teenager again and he left the secrets in the jellyfish at the lab. They had many road blockers that they had to try and try again to get into the lab. With their love of science, they had to get it before it went away.

I think grades 3-6 would like this book because it is a very funny book and it is not that complicated to read. I would rate it a 4 out of 5 because I wish that there was a little more action involved with the plot. I like this book because of the funniness that the grandpa says/ does. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2583320670

In the book, Miles Morales Spider-man, by Jason Reynolds, it follows the story of a boy named Miles. He is either at his school (Brooklyn Visions Academy) or at his parents home. Miles is a bad student. He has gotten suspended and he is trying not to get into any more trouble. He feels like his superpowers aren’t working right. He gets a suspicion that one of his teachers are tempering with his powers.  His problem is that to stay in school, he has to be a good student. He has to help his family out to.

This quote is from where he needs time to think and he flies out the window and does what he loves, “He didn’t pay attention to where he was going, just tried to remember what it was felt like to fly. What it felt like to fall and knowing that he wouldn’t actually hit the ground.”

This quote resonates with me because, when he had problems, his strategy to try and solve it was to do what he loves. I know when I have a problem, I shoot hoops and it helps me think.

“It was the summer of 1988, where basketball gave me wings and I had to learn how to rebound on the court. And off.” In the book, Rebound, by Kwame Alexander, it follows the story of Chuck Bell. His dad died recently and he was very depressed. He wasn’t okay and his mom wasn’t nice to him. His mom sent him to his grandparent’s house for the summer where he hung out with his cousin, Roxie, a lot. This book is about the father who is introduced in the book, Crossover.

The problem is that he has lost his love for basketball from the death of his father. He would refuse to play basketball with Roxie until she had forced him to. He was trying to mourn the loss but couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let it go. Roxie keeps making him play with her and he is starting to like it again. There becomes a point where he loves the sport again and can mourn his father’s death.

I would rate this book 4 stars. I would rate this 4 stars because it’s a very interesting book, but I think there should be more on his dad and how he died. There were some parts I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes because there is a lot of crime that happens in the book. I like this book because I like that although he got into trouble a lot, he persevered through his problems. I would recommend this book to grades 4-6 because it’s a little challenging to understand for the smaller grades. Also, there is a lot of tragic things in this book that happens to Chuck.          

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2570521215

In the book,  Prisoner B-3087, by Alan Gratz, it follows a boy named Yanek Gruener. He is a Jew from Poland and he lives with his family. One day, the Nazis come and ruin his life. He gets captured by the Nazis and is taken to his first concentration camp. He has a hard time surviving because throughout his life his family gets taken away from him and he is the last one. He gets sent through 10 different concentration camps and here is an excerpt from Birkenau,” I had survived the work gangs in the ghetto. Baked bread undercover at night. Hidden in a pigeon coop. Had a midnight bar mitzvah in the basement of an abandoned building. I had watched my parents be taken away to their deaths, had avoided Amon Goeth and his dogs, had survived the salt mines of Wieliczka and the sick games of Trzebinia. I had done so much to live, and now, here, the Nazis were going to take all that away with their furnace! I started to cry, the first tears I had shed since Moshe had died. Why had I worked so hard to survive if it was always going to end like this? If I had known, I wouldn’t have bothered. I would have let them kill me back in the ghetto. It would have been easier that way. All that I had done was for nothing. In a large empty room we were ordered to undress and pile our striped uniforms in the corner. In a different corner was another stack of clothes- silks of bright red and blue and purple and green. Gypsy clothes. Now we knew who had fed the fires of Birkenau while we waited our turn outside. I was still crying as I pulled my shirt off and added it to the pile. The tears came unbidden, but I didn’t try to stop them. Some of the other men were crying. Most weren’t. I didn’t care. I was tired. Tired of being brave. Tired of surviving.” Read the book, Prisoner B-3087, by Alan Gratz to find out what happens to Yanek.

In the book, Fuzzy Mud, by Louis Sachar, it follows two characters, Marshall and Tamaya. Tamaya is a perfect student who has a perfect record. Marshall, on the other hand, is not that good of a student of is being picked on by Chad Hilligas. The two have to walk back and forth from school together, but one day they take a random shortcut through the woods, Marshall needs to get away from Chad who wants to start a fight. While they are using this shortcut, Tamaya finds this weird substance that can change their town in a few days. What is this substance? Is it harmful? How will it change there town? Read Fuzzy Mud to learn what this substance is and what it does for the better or worse.

If you like this book you might like the book, Holes, by the same author Louis Sachar. Holes is about a kid who has to go to a camp, but doesn’t want too. At the camp, they have to dig 5-foot deep hole looking for something special. Read, Holes, by Louis Sachar but don’t forget to read, Fuzzy Mud, also by Louis Sachar.